How to write a summary: example: Shashikala, a Sikh
girl in Cardiff

Last Tuesday, Shashikala ran away from
home, a big step to take for an English girl of sixteen, but a terrible
risk for an Indian girl of sixteen like Shashikala who was born in Cardiff
of Sikh parents.

Until Tuesday she had been living all
her life under the protection of a very close Sikh family that took religion
and Indian culture very seriously. When Shashikala first went to a Cardiff
school, her father was very unhappy. In his opinion, the people in Cardiff,
the English and the Welsh, drank and smoked too much, didn't take good
care of their children and their old people, and wasted their money on
silly luxuries.

When Shashikala became a teenager, her
father was even more sure that the white children in Cardiff were having
a very bad influence on his daughter and had far too much freedom. Because
he felt that the white school was a threat to family life and Sikh tradition,
he told her to leave school when she was sixteen and to prepare for an
arranged marriage with a young Sikh in Birmingham. Shashikala, whose dream
it was to study and to become a doctor, was very unhappy. She had not even
seen this boy in Birmingham and she certainly didn't want to leave school!

Shashikala's tutor came to see her father
and tried to change his mind. The tutor told him that his daughter was
very good at physics and chemistry and could easily get a place at Cardiff
university to study medicine. When her father refused to listen to this,
Shashikala ran crying from the room. That night she packed a small suitcase
and, at two o'clock in the morning, she climbed out of her bedroom window
and walked to the house of her girl-friend Anna, an Italian girl. Anna
understood very well why she wanted to live a different life from that
of her mother: she didn't want to wear traditional dress any more and certainly
didn't want to marry an unknown Sikh. Shashikala's father went to the police
the next morning to get her back. And now she is locked in her room and
watched day and night. Her father says she has brought shame on the family.

Summary.

1. Look at your answers to the
questions below.If you connect your answers, you'll be able
to write a summary quite easily.

2. Connect your sentences with
such conjunctions as:because, although, when,
as soon as, so that

3. Put in some explanations for
those readers who don't know the text

4. Put in some functions from
your list like

At
the beginning

the
author

writes

that.....

In
addition to that

we

read,

that

In
the end

the
writer

points
out

that

General questions:1. Why does Shashikala run away from home?

1. She wants to live a different life from that of her mother.

Shashikala runs away from home because she
wants to live a different life from that of her mother.

2. What do her parents think she shall do?

2. She shall leave school and marry a young Sikh in Birmingham.

Her parents think she shall leave school and
marry a young Sikh in Birmingham.

3. What does Shashikala want to do most?

3. It is her dream to study and become a doctor.

It is her dream to study and become a doctor.

4. What does her tutor tell her father?

4. He tells that she can easily get a place at Cardiff University.

Her tutor tells her father that she can easily
get a place at Cardiff University.

5. What do the parents do to Shashikala after that?

5. Her parents go to the police to get her back.

As soon as Shashikala has run away her parents
go to the police to get her back.

6. What happens to Shashikala then?

6. She is locked in her room and watched day and night.

Then she is locked in her room and watched
day and night.

Summary:

At the beginning the author writes that
Shashikala, a Sikh girl from Cardiff, aged 16, runs away from home because
she wants to live a different life from that of her mother. Although her
parents think she shall leave school and marry a young Sikh in Birmingham,
it is her dream to study and become a doctor. In the main part the reader
is informed about her tutor who tells her father that his daughter can
easily get a place at Cardiff University to study medicine, but her father
doesn't listen. In addition to that we read, thatas
soon as she has run away, her parents go to the police to get her back.
In the end the writer points out that Shashikala is locked in her room
and watched day and night so that she can't run away again.